Draw to Power
Danger In The Uzumaki Name! Seitoshi staggered between the densely packed trees in the forest, the extra energy he had only minutes ago now drained from his body. It wouldn't be long till he reached the Northern border of the Land of Fire, at least a day's travel ahead of any potential search party. The battle with the Uzumaki child had taken an incredible toll on his body. The Gentle Fist attack had caused major internal bleeding. Even after absorbing life energy directly from the captive souls, the damage was great. "That damn brat." Seitoshi growled in pain. Seitoshi trudged towards the border, his thoughts consisting of nothing more than hatred for the Uzumaki. Everything handed to him on a silver platter, all the obstacles on his road to success cleared by everyone in that damn village, every single one of them cheering him on as he struck those Gentle Fist attacks. They'll pay. Seitoshi thought grasping a low hanging tree branch to maintain his balance. Every single one of those blasted Leaf Ninja will pay. Seitoshi continued forward, occasionally loosing his balance and staggering to one side as he walked. The fatigue Seitoshi was experiencing was obvious, the effects magnified by the internal damage. Despite the exhaustion, Seitoshi marched on. A cough resulted in a catchin Seitoshi's throat, resulting another cough as drops of blood few from Seitoshi's mouth onto the ground. That bastard. He's going to learn what it's like to truly suffer. I don't care what it takes anymore. A sudden jolt of pain in his abdomen forced Seitoshi to stop. He gripped his chest had he dropped down to one knee. This is nothing. There's nothing that pathetic brat can do to me that isn't worse that simply being me. What I've gone through is worse than any physical pain that could possibly be inflicted upon me. Seitoshi forced his body to respond, shakily rising to his feet and continuing forward. Another jolt of pain rushed through Seitohsi's chest, forcing him down onto both knees. "Damn it!" Seitoshi shouted out loud, his voice cutting through the silent forest. "Damn you Uzumaki!" Seitoshi let his body fall to the side, his shoulder coming to a rest against a tree. The crippling pain throughout Seitoshi's abdomen prevented him from gaining ground towards the border. He lay against he tree for what felt like an eternity but what was in reality, likely nothing more than half an hour. "Pathetic don't you think?" a woman's voice boasted from seemingly nowhere. Seitoshi quickly looked around, trying to determine the owner of the voice. "Show yourself!" he demanded. Seitoshi frantically scanned the forest but couldn't locate the source of the voice. "Damn it! Where are you!" Seitoshi's shout started several nearby birds, sending them scurrying away with several haphazard flaps of their wings. "I can tell your angry Seitoshi." the voice continued. "You can't control it can you? The Uzumaki child was better than you. He defeated you only using a fraction of his power." "Shut up!" Seitoshi shouted again, striking the tree with his fist. "I'll kill you!" "No Seitoshi you won't." Seitoshi froze. The voice was coming from right behind him. From the tree. Seitoshi sprung to his feet and backed away from the tree before loosing his balance and falling back. In the tree trunk was a subtle silhouette of a human face. A figure began to step out of the tree, maintaining the bark's color and pattern as it did. As the figure separated from the tree, its human features began to form. The slender curves indicated a woman, which was confirmed once the bark patter vanished. Seitoshi immediately recognized the woman. Her long silver hair, oddly youthful facial features and evil smile all seemed unchanged from all those years ago. Seitoshi even thought that the long dark cloak looked exactly the same. "What's wrong Seitoshi?" the woman asked through her evil grin. "Not happy to see an old friend?" "I have no friends!" Seitoshi shouted in retort. Seitoshi quickly begins stringing together hand seals. Torā, U, Inu, Hituji, Tatsu. Seitoshi unleashes his Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique, directing the attack at the woman. The blade-like gusts of wind slice through the woman's body, or so it appears. Several trees behind the woman begin tumbling down around the woman, be the woman herself stud unharmed, still smiling at Seitoshi. "What's wrong Seitoshi, you don't recognize your own ability?" The woman took several steps forward, fazing right through one of the downed trees that had fallen between her and Seitoshi. Seitoshi was speechless. It had never occurred to him that the woman he deemed responsible for his powers, was also a Phantom State user. Seitoshi had mixed emotions. Who was this woman? What was her business with him? Seitoshi didn't like that grin of hers, even if he often did the same. On the other hand, she was like him. For the first time, if only for a brief moment, Seitoshi didn't feel completely alone. But the main question on his mind was "Who are you!" The woman gave a slight bow as she formerly introduced herself for the first time. "The infamous Kirā, at your service. I must say, you've mastered your abilities quite well from what I saw." Seitoshi was puzzled. "What exactly did you see?" "I'm not surprised you didn't see me. But I saw you, infiltrating the Hidden Leaf, stealing all those souls without even drawing an eye, battling the young Randy Uzumaki. All of it." Kirā drew closer to Seitoshi. Although Seithsoi was still wary of the woman, he no longer viewed her as a threat. Kirā stopped mere feet from Seitoshi, her evil smile growing larger as she stared into the boy's eyes. She began inching closer as she continued talking. "I also saw the anger in you. You desire the power to bring the Uzumaki brat down, to finally show him what's it like to have nothing in this world. You desire, you need more power." By now Kirā's lips were right next to Seitoshi's ear as she whispered her next words. "I can give you power." The words sent a chill of excitement through Seitoshi's spine. Power was exactly what he needed to exact his vengeance on the Uzumaki child, Randy as Kirā had called him. He would crush every single thing Randy cared about. All the boy's dreams would go up in flames. Seitoshi would of course leave him alive, just so he could see what it felt like to have nothing, right before slowly taking his life away. The thoughts radiated through Seitoshi's mind like chimes in the wind. "I'll do whatever it takes." Seitoshi said without thinking. "Just give me the power to crush the Uzumaki!" Kirā's smile stretched from ear to ear. "I thought you'd see things like that." she said as she removed a scroll from under her cloak. Aftermath of a Lost Soul